SCALES!!

Here's a soapmaking Pet Peeve!

I got a call from a customer today who wondered why her soap was now crumbling, when it was coming out OK before.

After a long discussion about the many variables in soapmaking it came to light that she was measuring her ingredients by VOLUME ....not WEIGHT!

I don't mean to shout, but this is an absolute NO, NO in soapmaking.
Everything must be measured by WEIGHT....that is ounces, pounds, grams, etc. NOT fluid ounces....in a glass measuring cup...but by weight. On a scale.

And to make matters worse...this was because her soapmaking teacher had taught it that way. And apparently given out a small recipe booklet with all ingredients measured in 'cups' , 'teaspoons', etc.

Crumbling soap often means too much lye. Most likely caused by her method of measurement.

So....get thee to an internet website and buy a digital scale! I have two. This one is for lye and essential oils. It measures to .001 (thousandth of an ounce)
You can get by with one that measures to one or two places...but I like this one.


This one is for fats and oils. It measures large quantities....like 40 or 50 lbs. but only to the
.1 place....tenth place. You can see that with the nifty platform my husband made for it, that I can also put large HOT kettles on it filled with melted oils. Very convenient.


Other recommendations:

• an adapter so you can plug it in and save on batteries
• a tare feature to cancel the weight of the measuring container
• lighted (LED) window for those of us with 'old' eyes